Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal has called for an all-India strike on Saturday against the 5 percent goods and services tax (GST) on essential food items.
A total of 7,300 agricultural produce market committees (APMCs), 13,000 pulses mills, 9,600 rice mills, 8,000 flour mills, and 30 million retail businesses will protest and remain closed against the levy of GST on pre-packed and labelled food items, the organisation has said.
This comes after the GST Council decided that pre-packed and labelled food items (except frozen) such as meat, fish, curd, paneer and honey will now attract a 5 percent GST. Unbranded items like flour and rice will also attract a 5 percent GST if they are pre-packaged and labelled. At present, only branded versions of these items attract 5 percent GST.
Earlier this month, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said the decision to levy 5 percent GST would cause a loss of business to foodgrain traders, increase the compliance burden and raise the prices of unbranded everyday essentials.
The traders’ body said it would appeal to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the GST Council to reconsider the decision.
The GST Council accepted most recommendations of a group of state ministers on withdrawing exemptions to rationalize the levy.
CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the traders’ delegation would meet state finance ministers and hand over a memorandum to them to protest against this decision of the GST Council.
“This decision will empower big brands to capture the market at the cost of small manufacturers and traders. Special food items, cereals, etc, which were not branded till now, were exempted from GST.
“With this decision of the council, pre-packaged and pre-labelled retail packs, including pre-packaged, pre-labelled curd, lassi and buttermilk, will now attract GST tax and will cause huge damage to the business of foodgrain traders in more than 6,500 grain markets across the country," Khandelwal said.
(With text inputs from PTI)
